Thursday, July 31, 2008
May your weekend be blessed!
Early morning fog from the pond out my parent's front door.
Our tom, a heritage turkey. Sadly he was lost to some hungry foxes.
Rainbow over the woods
A gorgeous Maryland sunset.
Behind the chicken coup
A pair of geese guarding their nest
Giving my naughty dog Cody a bath. He hates them but doesn't seem to realize that if he didn't roll in mysterious poo, then he wouldn't need them so often!
Inspiration for an orderly home
(first three images from marthastewart.com)
image from ukhomeideas.com
image from www.simpsondoor.com
The small Brooklyn firm called Uhuru blend modern style with the Shaker philosophy.
Images from www.core77.com
Image from lifeiscarbon.com
Sara Szyber from Stockholm, designed these modern Scandinavian shaker-style tables
I've been coveting these awesome shaker salt n' pepper shakers, and now they're on sale!
www.shakerworkshops.com
This table to me is a classic. One day when I have more room I will buy a kit and make one. It has the rare capacity to look great no matter what style you love! It can be traditional...it can be modern. Also from www.shakerworkshops.com
India Inspired Wedding
Here it is! The first On Demand! post
About how to design and style weddings inspired by India
For all my readers who are passionate about
Indian styled wedding can range from subtle and simple, to exuberant display of color, finery and kitsch. Based on whether you want to go for an all out Indian wedding, or have a wedding that has some Indian influence, you can figure out the right balance while planning and designing. There are some very good online resources and event planners who can guide you through the entire process (some listed below). Infact, there are specialized consultants who would help you plan a wedding in India if you so desire! I hope you, and the readers who have mailed me regarding tips on Indian themed weddings, find this post useful.
So with out much further ado
And I now pronounce you, man and woman, to read further! ;-)
Starting with the venue decor: Indian weddings typically have shamiana (tents). You can go wild with colors and even use saris as drapes and coverings. Find more Indian styled tents in one of my earlier post..
Low diwan style seating. Lots of cushions and bolsters on kilim rugs can also do the trick
Hanging tea lights or wax diyas...take your pick! The goal is to be dramatic!
Say it with flowers! Lots of them. Marigold flowers have a special significance in any Indian (hindu) festivities, and are specially used in abundance during weddings.
Styling idea ~ Flowers and diya (tea lights) in brass or terracotta thaals and urlis (plate and urns)
One of the most important aspects of the wedding - the table decor! Colors like turquoise blue, orange, bright pink, plum, red, mustard and gold work well with the Indian theme
Indian style wedding cake! Designs inspired from Indian embroidery and henna designs
And those little details that make all the difference!
Elephant - real and fake, is a quite popular icon in Indian wedding theme :)
Multi hued glass bangles, ornate frames for name cards, zardozi sari fabric can be used for drapes, table covers or napkins, and add a touch of exotic with peacock feathers
Ganesha idol...considered very auspicious during weddings, bride/groom puppets in case some one gets bored from looking at the real bride and groom ;-)
Wooden elephant as a centerpiece, lanterns, wine goblets and miniature jewellery boxes
Embroidered fabrics...sky is the limit of how you use fabrics to add to the design
And of course, you have the option of choosing from exquisite Indian bridal dresses and jewellery and apply henna on your hands, and voila! you are all set for an Indian style wedding!
But, Indian wedding attire and styling in another post sometime...
...If you have an On Demand! request!
[Image Sources: Regal Weddings, Aspiration photography, Design2Decor, India Proposal, Fatima Iqbal, Brides.com, Marisa Holmes, Nancy Liuchin, Nirali, Oh how charming, Exquisite events, Regeti, Save the date nyc, Karen Wise, Lineament, Instyle weddings, Make love real, Andrena photo, The wedding travelers, Your wedding day, hgtv, White lilac Inc., Flickr ~ imatharu@rogers .com, through suzanne's eyes, mckavsavage, celeste]
Garden inspired ceramics
Rose Mcgowen
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
San Jose Architecture
Enjoy my little tour!
Hayes Mansion
Hayes Mansion Dining Room
Staircase in Hayes Mansion
Stained glass skylights, chamfered glass highlights in entry doors, compound curve wooden archways, and ornately tiled fireplaces are some of the attractions throughout the Hayes Mansion. A great deal of thoughtfulness has gone into the preservation of the original design. Some of the rooms have been carefully converted into meeting areas but still retain the characteristics of the nearly century old design.
Notice the tilework. The detail reminds me of Charles Rennie MacIntosh.
(description and photos taken from Wikipedia.com and pbase.com)
The architect was Richard Meier, designer of the Getty Center, Beverly Hills, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, among many other buildings around the world. The architectural style is most influenced by that of Le Corbusier.
I took a personal tour of the City Hall through an Interior Design class I was taking. It was interesting to hear of the controversial decision making process that all the different parties involved had to go through. I got the distinct impression that a lot of people were not happy with Richard Meier's design decisions, as they didn't necessarily make for good interior design spaces.
The $382 million dollar city hall has been very controversial, with the rotunda being compared to R2-D2 from Star Wars, but the building was designed to be environmentally friendly, making use of natural light, and providing shading with a "bris soleil" on the tower. Many architectural features were taken out of the original plan because of budget issues (grand staircase).
The complex is large, with the 18 story tall tower totaling 550,000 square feet. The mayor's office is located in the top floor of the tower, with the rotunda serving as an entrance and council chambers located in the third building.
233 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose
The Art Deco-era Hotel De Anza opened in 1931. For many years, this was San Jose's only luxury hotel with clients including Eleanor Roosevelt, Jack Dempsey and film stars like Susan Hayward and Paulette Goddard.
Remodeled and restored in 1990, Hotel De Anza is once again a luxury hotel featuring the elegant Hedley Club Lounge and La Pastaia -- one of the city's best Italian restaurants.
Entrance to The De Anza Hotel
Not flashy, but you can see the Art Deco details.
De Anza Hotel Lobby
The interior of the De Anza is distinguished by a main lobby where Art Deco elements are integrated into a predominantly Spanish Colonial Revival decorative scheme. The lobby reaches two stories in height and contains large wooden beams with stenciled colored floral patterns. Major factors of the interior design are the highly detailed wrought iron balconies, the huge wrought iron chandelier and double arch doorways. To one side is a fireplace with a huge canopy that reaches to the ceiling. Interior doors are all distinguished by their colored stenciled floral designs.
A grand lounge is located off the spacious main lobby with visually impressive painted beam ceilings and domed chandeliers as the crowning touches.
The beautiful, 25-foot high diving lady was painted on the building's exterior in 1951 to promote the hotel's heated pool.
The Hedley Room in The De Anza Hotel
Warm colors invite you in for an afternoon cocktail with business associates.
De Anza Hotel Terrace
An airy, open place to lunch with friends. I like the awnings that they have covering the entire area.
The De Anza is one of San Jose's few Zig Zag Moderne (Art Deco) buildings. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hotel De Anza, 233 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA 95113
The Sainte Claire Hotel
Opened in 1926, the six story Sainte Claire Hotel had all the big city luxuries of the time. The antique lobby furnishings came from Czechoslovakia, and the lounge and lobby were adorned with hand-painted ceilings. A Spanish courtyard with tile fountains and decorations by our local tile artisan, Albert Solon, brought light into the downstairs lounge and hallways. The Sainte Claire was designed by Charles Peter Weeks & William Day. All of the Weeks and Day buildings make generous use of terra cotta siding and ornamentation that was produced at the Gladding-McBean factory at Lincoln, near Sacramento.
The Sainte Claire Entrance
Formality reigns as doormen await your arrival.
The Sainte Claire Interior
Today, that standard of luxury is wonderfully preserved at the Sainte Claire. After a detailed restoration and recent renovations to all guestrooms, the hotel boasts handmade hardwood furniture, rich wall coverings, ceiling murals and the finest imported amenities. The luxury hotel's lofty lobby features elaborate gilt scrollwork and hand-carved, hand-painted ceiling panels (by Tony Heinsbergen), and is appointed with classic Italianate furnishings.
Guest Suite in the Sainte Claire
Warm colors and cozy surfaces make this space feel like home.
Il Fornaio Restaurant at The Sainte Claire Hotel
A popular dinner spot in San Jose.
San Jose's California Theatre
345 S. First St., San Jose
Closed for years and near demolition by neglect, San Jose's historic California Theatre reopened in September 2004. Its restoration designed both for live stage performances and for motion pictures, it is the new home of Opera San Jose and Symphony Silicon Valley.
The original building was designed in 1927 by architects Charles Peter Weeks and William Day (architects of the Sainte Claire Hotel, Oakland's Fox Theatre, and San Francisco's Mark Hopkins Hotel). Said to be ‘the finest theater in California’ on its opening day, it is one of the best preserved examples of late 1920's motion picture houses in the country. Over the years the theatre housed vaudeville shows and featured 3D and Cinemascope.
The theaters of Weeks and Day were slightly different because they compressed Iberian and Italianate elements together. The Redevelopment Agency calls the California Theatre "a mixture of Gothic, Moorish and Renaissance styles."
The design elements—pan-Spanish, movie-theater baroque, Mission and more— never really collide visually.
Auditorium of California Theatre
In the 1960s and 1970s, the building passed through several owners and closed in 1973. In 1985, it was purchased by the Redevelopment Agency to preserve the City's largest remaining downtown movie palace.
Architectural Fact Sheet
Building size: 85,000 square feet historic renovation and new construction 4,000 square feet courtyard and second floor terrace
Project Opening: September 17, 2004
Construction Began: July 2001
Project Cost: $75 million
Construction Cost: $58 million
Funded by: The Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Jose and the Packard Humanities Institute, which financed over one-third of the project cost
Owner: Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Jose (acquired in 1985)
Date of original construction: 1927
Original architect: Weeks and Day
Renovation and Expansion Architect: ELS Architecture and Urban Design
The walls once again look like adobe,
with the niches made of lime or sandstone.
From the stage, one sees the balcony ornamented with Wedgwood medallions.
The Grand Lobby still preserves the original stenciling on the ceiling--apparently having only been cleaned and touched up in a couple of places.
Twisted Corinithian half-columns line the walls. This timbered lobby ceiling matches the raised beams in the auditorium, which are a new addition to the original design.
Main Lobby California Theatre
The auditorium has been brought back to its original color scheme, with painting complete save for the front and soffit of the balcony, The new colors are true or very close to the original 1927 palette.
duplicating the original.